70 years and counting: Jaipur’s famous M.I. Road Lassiwala

JAIPUR KI LASSIWALA! WAH!

Well who doesn’t know about Jaipur’s Lassiwala. For years and generations almost all of us have had lassi from here. In fact, three or four more shops have come up near the original one. However, they don’t rank anywhere near the one and only lassiwala. Over the years, the size of the ‘kulhad’ of lassi has been going down and the cost has been going up. Nevertheless, there is no change in the quality. Despite our repeated requests the owners refused to tell us the number of ‘kulhads’ of lassi sold.

LASSI SINCE 1944!

Lassiwala, the iconic shop situated at MI road has been serving ‘lassi’ to the Jaipurites for more than seventy years now. Set up by Kishanlal Agarwal in 1944, the shop was then the first of its kind in Jaipur.

Traditionally available as sweet and salted, the outlet has now also introduced a sugar free variant of the popular beverage. Counted as one of the best shops in the city for lassi, many high profile celebs and bollywood actors have also visited the Lassiwala and fall short of words while singing praises for its ‘lassi’. Amitabh Bacchan, Mukesh Ambani, Shilpa Shetty, Dimple Kapadia, Shobha Dee among others are some of the diehard fans of this ‘lassi’.

While the other shops are open till late in the evening, this particular shop sells ‘lassi’ from 7 am to 4 pm only. When asked the reason for this, the owner Ghanshyam Agarwal said that not only the curd goes sour by evening but , in fact, there is no ‘lassi’ left to be sold by that time.

Available in ‘kulhads’ of two sizes – 200 ML (Rs. 30)and 400 ML (Rs. 60), what is incredible about the preparation of this highly favoured drink is that it is made with only curd and ice and is devoid of water. If you don’t want to stand in a queue in the scorching heat of summers to get this cool delight, you can also send someone to get it packed for you. Covered using a butter paper and thread, these kulhads add even more to the merriment.

Apart from the countless localities, more than hundred foreign tourists visit the shop every day. The lassiwala now also caters to the demand for ‘lassi’ in various functions in Jaipur. The lassi at this widely known and acknowledged lassiwala should definitely not be given a miss.